It was the sweet normality of the occasion that was so striking, writes Miriam Lordat Oldbridge House
Yesterday, Ian Paisley and Bertie Ahern book-ended over 300 years of conflict and mistrust in Ireland with a simple ceremony that evoked the cheery ordinariness of a garden fete.
This was a hugely significant and symbolic event in the history of our island; one of those rare times when something momentous is actually taking place before your eyes.
One can count in months, not centuries, back to when the mere idea of Ian Paisley and the Republic's Taoiseach cracking jokes beside a pile of cannonballs on the site of the Battle of the Boyne would have been dismissed as wild fantasy.
When Orangemen wearing their collarettes would spill out of a marquee in Meath beside Southern lord mayors with their chains of office, all rushing up a path to have their photographs taken beside a fife and drum band.
When Big Ian would recite Patrick Kavanagh and Bertie would hum along to The Green Grassy Banks of the Boyne.
When the Irish Minister for Justice would give Northern Ireland's new First Minister an ancient book on the Elizabethan wars in Ireland, a book that once belonged to his grandfather, a founder member of the Irish Volunteers.
When the politics of the last disagreement would give way to the politics of the next photo opportunity.
When everyone was the best of friends.
But this is what happened yesterday. And best of all, it happened without enormous fuss or flag-waving. That it could be so perfectly normal was what made it near unbelievable.
People remembered the famous mural in loyalist North Antrim: "We will never forsake the blue skies of Ulster for the grey mist of the Irish Republic."
They looked up at the sky - an appropriate mixture of grey and blue.
Outside Oldbridge House in Drogheda, the Taoiseach repeated the scene from last month when he stood outside Farmleigh in Dublin, scuffing the gravel with his foot, waiting for Ian Paisley to arrive.
That seminal moment when the two men shook hands produced those unforgettable images that signalled an end to ancient hostilities.
So when they met again on Southern soil, there was no doubt the atmosphere would be anything less than generous and convivial. It was the symbolism of the venue that was significant this time.
"For Protestants and unionists, the Boyne carries with it a powerful significance of our culture, our history and our pride. It represents liberty, triumph, determination - features that have too often been forgotten because of more recent troubles," Ian Paisley would say later.
1690. King Billy's Williamite forces defeat the armies of the Catholic King James ll. The Battle of the Boyne has been central to the culture of Ulster loyalism and unionism ever since. Heroic depictions of King Billy on his white charger are proudly paraded on the glorious twelfth.
The main battle site at Oldbridge is sacred ground. It doesn't have the same resonance for the opposing tradition, but yesterday its historic importance for both sides was recognised.
Just after 11am, Dr Paisley arrived with his wife Eileen and was greeted by a beaming Taoiseach . Bertie's tie was striped red, white and blue. There were big smiles and hearty handshakes.
The ancient battleground stretched down the slope beyond them, six cannons lined up where King Billy launched his offensive.
The Taoiseach led his guests inside to view an exhibition of military artefacts. Guests were brought to an inner courtyard, where more items were on display. They included a couple of cannon, cannonballs and a wagon loaded with gunpowder barrels.
"All that's missing is General de Chastelaine and an angle grinder," quipped an onlooker, wondering if the field artillery had been decommissioned.
After 25 minutes inside, the little group emerged, chatting away. Bertie leaned on a cannon wheel, before he and Dr Paisley closely examined a cannonball, then went to meet Fern the horse, and to examine a typical officer's saddle of the period.
Given that the Taoiseach is in the middle of the election campaign, there was every possibility he would greet Fern with a friendly "there's the hardy horse!" before moving on to greet another prospective voter.
He resisted. Instead the two politicians whispered sweet nothings to the unimpressed mare as journalists in the next corral wondered if they were looking at a future minister for culture.
They went to view the battle scene - now gorgeous acres of meadow with the fallen remains of the ancient walnut tree, which provided wood for the bowl the Taoiseach presented to Ian Paisley on his fiftieth wedding anniversary.
The Taoiseach and First Minister spoke of shared history, past troubles and a bright future. They pointed out that Roman Catholics and Protestants fought side by side in both armies at the Boyne.
Big Ian presented the Taoiseach with a musket carried into the battle by a Jacobite officer: a beautiful piece of workmanship - its stock made from ash with a rich brown patina, a brass dragon running along the side and the cipher of James ll on the lock.
"When you touch this musket, you feel the history of the time," said Dr Paisley.
After the ceremony, there was tea and buns in a marquee. Bertie and Ian took their leave, signing copies of guides to the battlefield as they walked.
Senator Martin Mansergh, who played a key role in the early peace negotiations, declared it was a magnificent occasion. His family has Williamite connections, "but I'm wearing a Bourbon tie today to even matters up".
On the bus from the site, guests from both sides of the Border wished each other a safe journey home.
The media packed up. "It'll be f****** flower-shows from now on," sighed a disconsolate Belfast reporter.
That's the peace dividend.